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Schools and teachers nowadays face new difficulties and challenges as a result of the fast growth of cyberbullying. The aim of the study is to examine the perceptions, beliefs and concerns about cyberbullying, as well as the needs, of a professionally diverse group of teachers. Three‐hundred and twenty‐eight teachers (88.4% female, 11.6% male) from different types of schools and professional foci were randomly selected and completed a cyberbullying questionnaire regarding their perceptions of cyberbullying and about their personal experiences in relation to cyberbullying. They also provided background information. Findings indicate that teachers noted that cyberbullying is a problem in their school, suggesting that urgent attention be paid to three aspects: policy making, enhancing awareness of the school team and coping strategies for parents. About half the teachers reported that students complain of harassment through the mobile phone and Internet, and some teachers were themselves cyberbullied. It was found that the teachers’ gender, education level and the age of the students they taught affected their level of concern about cyberbullying, and therefore how credible they found the school's commitment to act on it. Female teachers expressed more concern than male teachers, as did teachers of younger children. Special education teachers were more concerned than mainstream teachers and were more likely to believe that the cyberbullying must be confronted. The results contribute to our understanding of the teachers’ perceptions, beliefs and concerns about cyberbullying, which could serve as a basis for developing policy guidelines in schools as well as establishing programs for school teachers to cope with cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying refers to a negative activity aimed at deliberate and repeated harm through the use of a variety of electronic media. This study examined the Internet behavior patterns and gender differences among students with learning disabilities who attended general education and special education classes, their involvement in cyberbullying, and the relationships among being cyberbullied, their responses, and their coping strategies. The sample consisted of 149 students with learning disabilities (LD) attending general education classes, 116 students with comorbid LD attending special education classes, and 242 typically achieving students. All the students, studying in middle and high schools, completed a self-report cyberbullying questionnaire. Findings indicate that although no significant differences emerged in the amount of surfing hours and students' expertise in the use of the Internet, students attending special education classes are more likely to be cybervictims and cyberperpetrators; girls are more likely to be cybervictims, whereas boys are more likely to be cyberperpetrators. These results contribute to our understanding of students' involvement in cyberbullying and can serve as a basis for developing preventive programs as well as intervention programs for students and for educational school teams.

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The authors examined cyberbullying victimization in the context of issues of key importance to youth: body esteem, social support, and social self-efficacy. Research has found that traditional peer-bullying victimization is significantly correlated with low body esteem in Western societies, especially pertaining to weight (R. Puhl & J. Luedicke, 2012 ). Studies have also found a relationship among bullying victimization, appearance-related bullying, low body esteem, and psychosocial difficulties among youth (L. E. Park, R. M. Calogero, A.F. Young, & A. Diraddo, 2010 ). However, the emergence of cyberbullying, characterized by its own special features (P. K. Smith et al., 2008 ), has raised a salient need to explore the relationship between cyber victimization and body esteem, no less important with social framework, because both are key components in adolescents' lives that may be associated with cyberbullying victimization. The authors examined these relationships among 204 Israeli adolescents 14-16 years old. The results indicate a noteworthy prevalence (45%) of cyber victims. Cyber victimization is significantly correlated with low body esteem and low social support and social self-efficacy. Low body esteem and low social support predicted the probability of being a cyber victim. The results extend the knowledge about potential personal and social risk factors for cyber victimization during adolescence. Implications for specific intervention programs are discussed.